CHICAGO (WLS) — Gary Cole has built a wide-ranging career on screen, but the Rolling Meadows native first found his footing as an actor on Chicago’s theater stages.
A graduate of Illinois State University, Cole was also among the early ensemble members at Steppenwolf Theatre.
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He has returned to that artistic home to star in “Catch as Catch Can,” a comeback he described as deeply meaningful.
“Being here, doing a play, staying for a prolonged period, the memories are kind of overwhelming because it’s where I started,” Cole said.
“Catch as Catch Can” is an energetic and emotionally charged family drama, centered on a homecoming that pushes relatives to confront both their past identities and the people they have become.
The production also features an intriguing theatrical twist: every performer takes on two parts.
That demanding structure gives Cole and fellow cast members Audrey Francis and Tim Hopper a distinctive challenge on stage.
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“It’s not just two characters. You’re playing a man and a woman, all of us, including Audrey. Audrey playing a man and a woman, Tim and I are playing a man and a woman,” Cole said. “Nobody’s running out, you know, running into a closet and becoming, you know, totally dressed in in, you know, other, you know, other costumes and wigs. It’s none of that. There’s moments in the play where you, you actually are appearing on stage as both characters.”
Cole said he’s often recognized from “Office Space.”
“If I had to list them in in frequency, ‘Office Space’ would probably be at the top of the list. And I’m frequently asked if I you know, if I got the memo, or this, or I’m told I need to come in on Saturday,” Cole said. “I never worked in an office; so I don’t know that I was really aware at the time of the, of the how large the culture was in that, you know, in that cubicle world.”
Cole said he hasn’t been in Chicago in 25 years, but he was on a stage 10 years ago.
“I did a show with Steppenwolf in the church basement in Highland Park in 1978 with people I went to college with,” he said. “And I was only a year out of college when I did, when I did the play. So it’s, it’s extraordinary, really. I mean, that it’s, that it’s here and it’s thriving. It’s hard to take for granted.”
You can see Cole in Steppenwolf’s “Catch as Catch Can” through July 12.
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